My brother and I were discussing Ecuador as an inexpensive location with excellent healthcare which uses the US dollar as its currency last night. There are lots of ways to get a visa (that lasts longer than 90 or 180 days and can turn into permanent residence after a few (2? 5?) years). If you have a college degree and are a digital nomad (Professional Visa), can invest $40K for two years (Investor Visa), etc., you can move to Ecuador. For the investor visa, you can put $40K in a two year CD (which pays up to 10% per year interest), collect the interest and withdraw your money after two years. The equivalent "FDIC"in Ecuador protects $32K of your funds in any covered bank or credit union; one option is to withdraw half of your $40K investment after two years and put that half in a CD in a different bank or credit union so 100% of your funds are protected. One issue: Ecuador charges a 5% fee on funds withdrawn from the country. To me, the idea of investing $40K, letting it compound at 10% per year for ten years and paying a 5% fee at the end doesn't sound terrible; your investment is worth $103,750 at the end, you pay a 5% ($5190) fee and take $98,560 back to the US if you decide to leave Ecuador. Compare that with the return on a CD in the US.
